"I believe that he was the linchpin of a plot that included others, such as the Central Intelligence Agency, organized crime, and Texas oil interests," Stone told Malzberg. "A Latin axiom goes ... ‘If you want to know who committed the crime, look at who derives the greatest benefit.' Johnson is the one."

Johnson was sworn into office within hours of Kennedy's death, and went on to win re-election in 1964 before losing to Hubert Humphrey in the 1968 Democratic primary.

In the interview, Stone said his book also revealed that Johnson is tied "to at least eight murders on the way up."

"Johnson was a killer, and murder was in his repertoire," Stone alleged, adding that in the Kennedy shooting, "there probably [were] at least two shooters ... may have been three."

In addition to the those claims, the book also asserts that former President Richard Nixon, for whom Stone had worked for as a campaign scheduler, once said that Johnson ordered the killing of Kennedy.

In its investigation of the Kennedy assassination, the Warren Commission, which was established by Johnson and consisted of a seven-member committee led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, concluded that Johnson was not involved in the killing of Kennedy and that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

Stone's new book, which was co-authored by Mike Colapietro, is currently No. 21 on the Times' new list of hardcover nonfiction works, No. 23 among e-book nonfiction books, and No. 19 in the combined e-book and print nonfiction category. It is also ranked No. 1 in the Public Affairs & Administration category on Amazon.com as well as No. 2 in the website's Communications & Media Studies category.